Quantity-meter.



No. 802,328., PATBNTED 00T. 17, 1905.' R. som/11m.

QUANTITY METER.

APPLloATIoN FILED MM 1a, 190s.

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RICHARD SCHMIDT, OF ll/IUNIUH, GERMANY.

no. ceases.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 17, 1905.

Application filed May 13, 1903. Serial No. 157,012.

To air/ZZ whom, 75 777,607/ concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD SCHMIDT, a citizen of Germany, residing at Munich, Bavaria, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Quantity-Meters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Many attempts have been made hitherto to use spring-moved timepieces as quantityrneters-as, for instance, as current-meters. The constructions known for this purpose were based upon the principle to loaden the oscillating balance-springmore or less directly or indirectly by means of the current to be measured or by checking the oscillations of said balance-spring with the aid of an adjustable curve guide-as, for instance, by means of a curve checking' at a suitable moment the movement of a pin secured to the spring and participating the oscillations of the same. Such apparatuses, however, were of a very complicated nature and involved always an undetachable connection between the clockwork and the mechanism influenced by the electric current. It was impossible hitherto to obtain in a simple easy manner a continuous proportional variation of the speed of the clockwork correspondingly to the proportional progressing movement of the apparatus iniiuenced by the current.

rEhe present invention is characterized by that the well-known regulator-lever of the balance-spring is put under influence of the quantity-meter in a manner that a proportional progressing of the meter involves always an adequate proportional movement of said regulator-lever modifying' thereby conveniently the lead or lag of the clockwork. The present apparatus may be employed in all eases where the difference between a normal timepiece and a timepiece ini'luenced in the above said manner is registered for measuring purposes.

In the accompanying` drawings, Figure 'l is a front View of the clockwork. Fig. 2 is a back view of the balance and the mechanism connected therewith. Fig. 3 is a side clevatien of the same. scale, the balancespring with the adjusting device. Fig. 5 is an elevation of the device connected to an ammeter.

.In the drawings, a and denote the clock- Fig. 4 shows, in greater hands for the minutes and hours. c is the hand for the seconds. The driving mechanism ofthe clockwork is exactly the like to that of the well-known spring-moved clockworks. For greater clear-ness sake the springcase, driving mechanism, Sie., have been omitted in the ligures.

d denotes the balance, a the spiral spring mounted upon the same axle. fis the balancevise to which the one end of the spring is fastened in known manner. (This fastening' is shown only in Fig. 2 and has been emitted in Fig. 3.)

rlhe present invention is based upon the well-known principle employed already for the regulating of spring-moved clockwerksviz., that the oscillation of a spring can be accelerated or retarded by respectively shortening or lengthening the spring.

The balance-vise f has a cylindrical sleeve y, throljigh which the spindle. of the balance passes and upon which sleeve the geared wheel /r is mounted. By such an arrangement the weight of said gear-wheel is supported by the sleeve and not by the balance-spindle. On one side of said geared wheel /1/ an arm ri (regulator lever) is fastened, (see Fig. 3,) holding, by means of a weak spring, a small block 1 in a manner that the latter is pressed against the free end of the spiral spring, separating thus the oscillating' section of the spring from the uumoved section.

The block has a play of a complete revolution. These parts are shown in an enlarged scale in lfig. 4l. Ihe block softly presses the spiral spring against the one or the other of the two guide-posts fle and wf', disposed in the known manner at both sides of the spiral spring. ccinch a disposition alfords many peculiar :ulvantages in the present meter where the regulating-block has a play of a complete revolution er more. The yieldiilgly-pressed regulating-block separates always sharply the swinging part of the spring from the motion less part and secures thus the desired. proportionality in a manner that the scale p may be subdivided into equal parts.

As shown in the ligures, the lever a' when pushed to left shortens the swinging section of the spring and accelerates, therefore, the motion of the clockwork, so that the latter, which was driven normallynf. c., as a normal timepieceAAA---in the extreme right position of Asaid block Zz, will now lead correspondingly.

In order to obtain a play as great as possi IOO ble of the regulating-block--at least a complete revolution-and to enable also an exact adjusting (checking) of the same in any distinct position, the following arrangement has been employed.

The pinion meshes with the pinion a, mounted upon the aXle m, holding (the latter) at its end over scale p a nger q. By shifting said linger q from one subdivision to the other the regulating-block c will make always a corresponding way and shorten proportionally the swinging' part oi' the spring.

The ciphers on scale p give the minutes or seconds with which the timepiece leads, respectively, to a normal timepiece.

0 denotes the normal position of the regulating-block. Vhen shifting the same to left, the timepiece will lead with the seconds indicated. As already stated, the scale is subdivided into equal parts, the acceleration and retardation of the spiral spring being directly proportional to the shortening or lengthening of the swinging spring-section.

As stated before, the play of the regulating-block shall be as great as possible, but at least a complete revolution, so that on scale p wewill have the considerable interval of, for instance, one hundred minutes in twentyfour hours-that is to say, the timepiece will lead with one hundred minutes in twentyfour hours against a normal timepiece when linger q is upon subdivision 100.

At both ends of scale p there are two checking-posts 2 and e', limiting the stroke of the linger g. Sometimes it may be desirable to stop the timepiece when the linger q is shifted to the checking-post e'. In such cases the following arrangement may be employed: The wire 7, mounted yieldingly at u, will be held by means of a small spring s in its normal position, in which it rests on nave t of pinion n. .At a certain determined position of pinion n a pin @It integral with said pinion releases said wire r, so that the latter will swing out and push the yielding wire o against the balance, stopping thus the motion of thel timepiece.

The present time-meter can be used in all cases Where quantities-aa for instance, quantities of power,(i'orce,) energy, &c.-are measured by means of time differences. I/Vhen using it, for instance, as current-meter, (like the Aaron meter,) the present timepiece will have the function of the pendulum influenced by the electric current. For this purpose it needs only to connect lever q with an apparatus influenced by the electric current, (as ampere-meter or the like,) such as indicated at A, whose index A is connected to the lever g, through suitable connections A2 A3 Ai, as shown in Fig. in such a manner that said lever (or inger) will be adjusted always correspondingly to the current intensity. Over pendulum-meters such a current-meter would have the great advantage of a very compendious and cheap construction. It could be also advantageously employed on moving parts, as tram-cars or the like, for controlling and measuring the current consumption. A normal timepiece designed for the comparison may be provided for, having, for instance, the same dial and the same balance-spring.

Over the meters with balance-springs based upon the principles as stated in the preamble of this specication the present timepiecehas the advantage that it leads always proportionally and correspondingly to the motion of the meter. Its construction is thereby as simple as possible. It has, further, no parts of a considerable mass which could be influenced in their movement by vibrations or jolts. The same timepiece may be also used for different meters,as it is only necessary to mount the latter simply upon the spindle, (if necessary, with a suitable reduction mechanism). This was impossible with the meters known hitherto.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. In a quantity-meter, the combination, with a balance-vise provided with a sleeve, a balance-spindle having one end journaled in the balance-vise and passing freely through said sleeve, and a balance-wheel upon the balance-spindle, of a balancespring connected to the spindle and to the balance-vise, a regulating-wheel mounted rotatably upon the sleeve of the balancevise, a regulator device attached to said wheel and arranged to control the operation of the balance spring, and electricallyoperated means for moving said regulating-wheel.

2. In a quantity-meter, the combination, with a balance-vise, a balance-spindle having one end journaled in the balance-vise, a balance wheel and a balance -spring upon the balance-spindle, and a regulator-lever arranged to control the balance-spring, a regulating-pinion arranged to actuate said regulator-lever, a gear-wheel in mesh with said pinion, and electrically-operated means for operating said gear-wheel.

3. In a quantity-meter, the combination, with a balance-spindle, a balance-wheel and a balance-spring connected to said spindle, and a regulator-lever Jfor controlling said spring, of a regulator-block yieldingly mounted on said regulator-lever and arranged to bear against said balance-spring and electrically-operated means for operating said regulator-lever.

4. In a quantity-meter, the combination, with a balance-spindle, a balance-wheel and a balance-spring connected to said spindle, and a regulator device arranged to control the balance-spring, of a pinion to which said lever is connected, a gear-wheel arranged to engage said pinion, a pointer-lever attached to said gear-wheel, a dial over which said pointer-lever moves, and electricallyoperated means for movingsaid pointer-lever.

IOO

IIO

5. In a quantity-meter, the combination, with a balance-spindle, a balance-Wheel and a balance-spring connected to said spindle, and a regulator-lever arranged to control the baIanoe-sprng, of a pinion to which said le ver is connected, a gear-Wheel n mesh with the pinion, a pin n said gear-WheeL a stopping device operated by said pin and arranged to stop the balance-Wheel, and eleotreallyoperated means for moving said 1o gearfvvheels.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

n RICHARD SCHMIDT.

Witnesses:

CLARA I. PARKER, WALTER E. BAURMAN. 

